ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)
Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday lambasted National Assembly Speaker Ayaz
Sadiq for 'victimising' him and alleged that Sadiq is no longer an
impartial speaker.
Members of the PTI staged a walkout from the House after Imran's remarks in the NA.
Speaking
to journalists outside the NA, Khan said, "I referred to him as Ayaz
Sadiq, not as the Speaker. In my opinion, he is not a speaker. A
speaker is supposed to be unbiased."
"Whatever he's done, he has done under pressure from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," Imran Khan alleged.
"Nawaz believes if someone can be bought, buy them. If they cannot be bought, then they must be suppressed," he alleged.
There was a deathly sound in the ward, of lungs struggling,
and wheezing. Most of the patients were children, with a variety of
winter respiratory diseases, including but not limited to Pneumonia.
Around
each bed, loved ones stood guard. Fathers and sons, mothers and
daughters. They looked on as their own fought for their lives. And to
make things even more difficult, some of these loved ones, were bent
over a machine, pumping precious air into the lungs of their children.
Dr. Mujeebur Rahman was one of them.
"My nephew had been brought in from Sahiwal, and as his condition went
from bad to worse, there was no ventilator available for him."
"What
we were given instead was an ambu bag which is generally used as a stop
gap arrangement to save a patient’s life. Me and three other people
took turns on this bag to make sure the child got his body’s requirement
of air."
The lack and state of ventilators in public
hospitals across the province is nothing new. According to a leading
newspaper, a report recently filed by the Provincial government in the
Supreme Court alleges that out of the 885 ventilators available across
the province, at least 122 are dysfunctional.
That is
nearly 14%. The same report claims that while many faults have been
repaired locally, major defects cannot be resolved in the short term due
to the unavailability of certain high tech parts which have to be
imported from manufacturers and/or agents.
A lack of working ventilators means patients are given ambu bags for manual ventilation. Dr. Rahman's version aims to removes human error from the process ─ MIT review Technology
Numerous deaths have also been attributed to these
damaged ventilators. Just last December, at least ten children died in a
leading public hospital in Lahore due to dysfunctional machines.
With
the number of working ventilators low, it is a challenge for most
people to get access to the life saving machine. Especially in public
hospitals. And that’s where the ambu bags come in.
Even for a person with no medical background, it is easy to see that this manual ventilation method is a recipe for disaster.
The
human heart is a perfect engine. It regulates the pace and pressure of
air into the lungs. But when the heart is unable to pump enough air into
the lungs, intervention is necessary, and that’s where the ventilators
come in.
Most private hospitals have a much better
ventilator to bed ratio as compared to public hospitals, but since they
are business oriented, these private hospitals charge exorbitant rates
for the use of the machines. Rates that most of Pakistan cannot afford.
And
so, Dr. Rahman’s young nephew fought for his life, for three days and
three nights, in a public hospital, breathing through an ambu bag. And
soon faded away.
An electrical engineer from the
University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, Dr. Rahman had
recently returned from the United States after completing his Masters
and PhD from The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), one of
the world’s leading institutions in the field of science and technology.
Now, he felt helpless.
“As an engineer, I couldn’t
reconcile myself with the state of affairs in the ward, that too in the
21st century,” says Dr. Rahman, who is now an Assistant Professor of
Electrical Engineering at Lahore's Information Technology University
(ITU).
"I now had a choice to make: either I could sit and fume, or I could use my engineering acumen and look for a solution."
The good doctor chose the latter.
The
idea was not to reinvent the wheel, but to create a product that could
at the very least, take out the human errors involved in using an ambu
bag as a ventilator. So the decision was made to automate the ambu bag.
"It’s
much easier to accept something familiar," Dr Rahman says, "if we’d
gone out and built something completely different, there would be
challenges in getting it accepted."
At the heart of the invention is a motor regulating flow rate and tidal volume ─ MIT review Technology
With a mechanical engineer from UET, the process of
invention began, and as with most such efforts, it all started on paper,
with some preliminary sketches. From there, they moved towards
mechanical designs, and soon enough, the design was ready.
At
this point, Dr. Rahman felt that a full time resource was needed, which
is when his associate Saad Pasha came on board, as a research associate
provided by ITU.
Together the two have put together what is version 0.1 of the low cost ambu bag ventilator system.
Both parameters can be monitored via sensors connected at both ends ─ MIT review Technology
"Clearly there is a lot of optimisation that can happen,
in the weight, size and form of the device," says Dr. Rahman. "And as
with all things medical, this needs to now go into a testing phase after
which it can be rolled out."
At the heart of the
invention is a motor, that regulates the flow rate and the tidal volume
of the ambu bag. Both these two parameters can be monitored via sensors
connected at both ends, the motor and the ambu bag.
These
sensors not only help in ensuring that the correct parameters are being
delivered, but also come in handy when and/if the device develops a
fault. A standard 12 volt battery powers the device. "At the end, we
want this to be a handheld device," says Dr. Rahman. The money needed to
build the prototype came from ITU's research fund, which is made
exclusively for such projects.
There are at least two
major challenges ahead. The crucial step is testing. For the device to
be accepted, it needs to go through a rigorous process where it is first
tested and monitored on animals, and then human testing may begin. Then
if it meets certain regulatory standards, it can be allowed for mass
scale production.
However, in in-house testing, the
device has performed remarkably well: where human input has been
terribly scattered, the device has been exactly on point.
The
other challenge is scalability. This prototype is handmade. Most of the
components are locally sourced, from areas like Hall Road and Brandreth
Road, which are more renowned for their audio and spare parts shops
than components for lifesaving equipment. If the ventilator is to be
mass produced, it will need to be an assembly line production.
As
a start, Dr. Rahman believes that his team can hand make up to ten
ventilators, which can be installed at a single hospital. There, both
the doctors and his team can work together to monitor the devices for
effectiveness, precision and faults.
"One problem with us engineers is that we build something and then put it away on the shelf to gather dust," admits Dr. Rahman.
"I don’t intend on letting this happen to the ventilator."
This piece first appeared on MIT Technology Review Pakistan and has been reproduced with permission.
AHMEDABAD: Pokemon Go is blasphemous and
should be banned, an Indian court was told Wednesday, because it rewards
religious vegetarians with eggs.
Lawyer Nachiket Dave
argued that the game offended the religious sensibilities of Hindus and
Jains ─ some of whom do not eat meat or other animal products ─ by
giving players virtual eggs, including in places of worship.
"Those
who succeed are rewarded with eggs. Offering eggs to people in temples,
even in the virtual world, is highly objectionable and amounts to
blasphemy," Dave told AFP after the brief hearing at the court in the
western Indian state of Gujarat.
Many Hindus are
vegetarian, among them Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while
members of the Jain faith usually follow a very strict vegan diet.
Dave,
who is acting on behalf of a private individual named Alay Dave, said
the court would now ask the Gujarat and Indian governments as well as
the San Francisco-based makers of Pokemon to respond to the claims.
The
global Pokemon Go craze has prompted a slew of complaints, with
religious sites arguing that it is disrespectful to play there and some
countries imposing a complete ban.
The game was recently updated to remove the Hiroshima and Berlin Holocaust memorials as Pokemon landmarks.
A
Russian blogger has been charged with offending religious believers and
inciting hatred after filming himself playing Pokemon Go in a church.
SAN FRANCISCO: LG is unveiling the first phone to ship with
Google's new Android Nougat software, in hopes of appealing to people
who like to take and share photos and video.
The new V20 phone comes on the eve of a San Francisco event where Apple is expected to launch new iPhones.
Nougat is already available as a free upgrade on some Google phones under the Nexus brand.
The
V20 would be the first with Nougat already installed. Other phones
aren't likely to get Nougat for a while because individual phone makers
and wireless carriers have to tweak and test the new software first.
A model poses with LG Electronics Inc.'s new smartphone the V20 during its unveiling ceremony in Seoul ─ AP
Many of the Android improvements in Nougat are "under
the hood" and thus largely invisible, such as tweaks to reduce battery
consumption and cellular data use.
The most obvious
changes include the ability to run two apps side by side, something
Samsung and LG have offered on their phones on a limited basis. Nougat
will also let people reply to messages within notifications, something
Apple already offers on iPhones.
Meanwhile, the V20
promises higher-quality audio playback and recording, with reduced
background noise, according to LG. The company also says it also
improved image stabilisation when recording video.
LG spokesman Frank Lee described the V20's target audience as "storytellers."
Like
LG's G5 phone, which it released in April, the V20 will have two lenses
on the main camera one for regular pictures and one with a wide angle
to capture more of the scene. Unlike many other top-line phones, the V20
features a replaceable battery.
LG is unveiling the first phone to ship with Google's new Android Nougat software, in hopes of appealing to people who like to take and share photos and video ─ AP
The V20 is expected in South Korea this month, with
other markets, including the US, to follow. LG didn't immediately
announce prices.
Apple also plans to update its phone
software this month. The update, iOS 10, will come with new messanging
and photo features and more detailed notifications on the lock screen.
Existing iPhone users will be encouraged to upgrade for the software for
free.
New iPhone's expected to be unveiled Wednesday will come with iOS 10.
SAN FRANCISCO: Older drivers may soon be
traveling a safer road thanks to smarter cars that can detect oncoming
traffic, steer clear of trouble and even hit the brakes when a collision
appears imminent.
A few of these innovations, such as
blind-spot warning systems, are already built in or offered as optional
features in some vehicles, primarily in more expensive models.
But
more revolutionary breakthroughs are expected in the next few years,
when measures such as robotic braking systems are supposed to become
standard features in all cars on U.S. roads.
Better
technology, of course, can help prevent drivers of all ages from getting
into accidents. But those in their 70s and older are more likely to
become confused at heavily trafficked intersections and on-ramps.
Aging
also frequently limits a body's range of motion, making it more
difficult to scan all around for nearby vehicles and other hazards. And
older drivers tend to be more fragile than their younger counterparts,
suffering more serious injuries in traffic accidents.
"Anything
that reduces the likelihood or severity of a collision is really a
technology that is primed for helping tomorrow's older adults," says
Bryan Reimer, research scientist for the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's AgeLab and associate director of the New England University
Transportation Center.
"We are moving toward an
ecosystem where older adults will increasingly be supported by the
technology that may help enhance their mobility."
Automakers
are rolling out more technology just as the first members of the
culture-shifting Baby Boom generation turn 70 this year. By 2030, the US
Census Bureau expects there will be nearly 54 million people who are 70
or older living in the country, up from about 31 million in 2014.
About
80 percent of that group is expected to be licensed to drive, based on
current trends, and that ratio could rise even higher if technology lets
elderly people remain behind the wheel and preserve a sense of
independence longer.
The presence of safety technology
will be a key consideration for three-fourths of the drivers older than
50 who plan to buy a car in the next two years, according to a recent
survey by auto insurer The Hartford and MIT AgeLab.
In an
indication that priorities are shifting, only one-third of the surveyed
50-and-older drivers who bought a car during the past two years focused
on safety technology.
The push to engineer self-driving
cars has helped heighten awareness about the role technology can play in
eliminating the human error that causes most accidents.
Google,
now part of Alphabet Inc., ignited the self-driving car research seven
years ago when it began working on autonomous vehicles in a secret
laboratory.
Now, most automakers and other major
technology companies, including Apple and Uber, are also working on
self-driving technology, though there is still wide disagreement over
when robotic chauffeurs will be ready — and legally cleared — to assume
sole responsibility for navigating public roads.
Google
aims to have its fully autonomous vehicles cruising around by 2020. That
objective is considered too ambitious by many auto industry executives
and experts who believe self-driving cars are a decade or more away from
becoming a reality.
In the meantime, plenty of other technology should be widely available for older drivers.
Earlier
this year, the auto industry vowed to make automated emergency brakes a
standard feature by September 2022, but it won't be that long before
the technology is widely available. Toyota plans to build it into most
models, including its Lexus brand, by the end of next year.
Cameras
on a dashboard screen that show what's behind the car have become
commonplace in recent years and will be mandatory on all new cars by May
2018. The equipment is expected to be especially helpful for older
drivers with a limited range of motion.
Other technology
expected to assist older drivers includes automated parking, and
adaptive headlights that swivel in the same direction as the steering
wheel and adjust the beams' intensity depending on driving conditions
and oncoming traffic.
Robotic systems that temporarily
assist with highway driving already are available, most notably in Tesla
Motors' high end Model S.
The electric-car maker
released its Autopilot feature last fall, prompting some Model S owners
to entrust more of the driving to the robot than Tesla recommends while
the system is still in testing mode. For instance, some drivers have
posted pictures of themselves reading a newspaper or book with the Model
S on Autopilot, or even sitting in the back seat.
In
May, an Ohio man was killed when a Model S in Autopilot mode crashed
into the side of a tractor-trailer while traveling 9 mph above the speed
limit on a highway near Gainesville, Florida. Federal investigators are
looking into the cause.
Highly publicized incidents like
that may make it more difficult to persuade older drivers to trust the
technology coming to their cars.
Older drivers also will
need help understanding its benefits and how to use it, says Dale Rife,
senior adviser to American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). To
help, AARP is planning to put more focus on car technology in its
37-year-old driver safety programs.
"This evolution is
going to accelerate in the next few years," Rife predicts, "but people
fear what they don't understand. And if they don't understand it, they
will just avoid it."
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Squash Federation
(PSF) said Wednesday the World Squash Federation (WSF) has assured it of
an opportunity to host an event worth $50,000 next year.
Talking
to APP, PSF Vice President Qamar Zaman said the WSF Chief Executive
Officer Andrew Shelley has assured Pakistan that it will be provided
with maximum PSA events.
"Andrew was present in Poland
where Pakistan clinched the 2016 World Team Junior Squash Championships
title and there he committed that a $50,000 PSA event will be given to
us next year," said the PSF vice president.
He said that
Egyptian and Malaysian players, too, have shown eagerness to play a
bilateral Test Series with the Pakistani players.
"Egyptian
and Malaysian officials have assured that they will come here and play a
bilateral Test Series with Pakistani. Pakistan has eight to nine
players who can outcome any international player. It's just that we need
to groom them."
KARACHI: In what appeared to be an attempt to take advantage
of the ongoing crisis within Karachi’s dominant political party,
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Tuesday lambasted Muttahida
Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain for his last month’s vitriolic
speech, but assured the Urdu-speaking community that he would always
stand with them as “being a Mohajir is not an insult”.
The
MQM has been in the throes of a serious crisis following the Aug 22
anti-Pakistan speech of Mr Hussain. The Karachi-based leadership had
already severed ties with him and has been running the show from here.
Mr
Khan, who arrived here on Monday evening, used harsh terms at his
party’s Pakistan Zindabad rally at Nishtar Park to describe the MQM’s
“reign of terror” in Karachi.
PTI to march towards Raiwand on 24th
The event was held amid high security and with extra
measures to protect the women sitting towards the right side of the
stage. The usual fervour, which earned the PTI a majority of supporters
from Karachi in the 2013 general elections, was missing this time
around. It was evident from the half-empty ground.
Patriotic
rhetoric and MQM-bashing replaced the usual fervour as one after the
other PTI members raised slogans of Long Live Pakistan with Mr Khan,
criticising the MQM supremo for “wreaking havoc in Pakistan”.
The
PTI chief began his speech at around 10.30pm by criticising Mr Hussain,
saying that a citizen of the United Kingdom was wreaking havoc in
Pakistan and despite his anti-Pakistan slogans no concrete action had
been taken against him.
He said that Mr Hussain “should
be the last person to speak about Pakistan being a centre of terrorism,
as he has contributed a lot to it by working along with Indian spy
agency RAW”.
Referring to a meeting with journalists
belonging to the Hindustan Times in 2003, he said that they told him
that the MQM supremo was working for the Indian intelligence agency.
Speaking
about the murder of slain MQM chairman Azeem Tariq in 1993, he alleged
that an insecure Mr Hussain got him murdered as he was far more educated
and informed individual.
Assuring the Urdu-speaking community of his support, he said, “Being a Mohajir is not an insult. You are not alone.”
The
PTI chief said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “is accused of a bigger
crime and that is of corruption which was revealed through the Panama
Papers leaks but the focus shifted from it”.
He
announced that he will lead a public march towards Raiwind on Sept 24,
adding that PM Sharif has “taken over institutions and needs to be
countered”.
Addressing the courts, he said that what
other way the PTI should seek to counter corruption, money laundering
and tax evasion practised by the Sharif family.
He also congratulated the Pakistan army for “protecting the state against terrorism”.
TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif accused Saudi authorities of “bigoted extremism” late
Tuesday in an increasingly bitter war of words over Iran's exclusion
from this year's Haj.
Javad Zarif was responding to a
claim by Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz
al-Sheikh, that Iranians were "not Muslims".
"Indeed, no
resemblance between Islam of Iranians and most Muslims, and [the]
bigoted extremism that Wahhabi top cleric and Saudi terror masters
preach," Zarif tweeted.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei was due to meet later on Wednesday with the families of
some of the more than 400 Iranian victims of a stampede that killed
nearly 2,300 pilgrims at last year's Haj.
He published a scathing open letter on Monday, accusing the Saudis of failing to protect pilgrims.
"The
hesitation and failure to rescue the half-dead and injured people... is
also obvious and incontrovertible. They murdered them," he wrote.
For
the first time in almost three decades, Iranians have been blocked from
the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest places in Saudi Arabia after
the regional rivals failed to agree on safety and logistical issues.
That has sparked acrimonious exchanges ahead of the start of the Haj on Saturday.
Khamenei
described the Saudi royal family as "small and puny Satans who tremble
for fear of jeopardising the interests of the Great Satan (the United
States)”, and called on the Muslim world to end its management of the
Haj.
The grand mufti responded on Tuesday, telling the
Makkah daily: "We must understand these are not Muslims, they are
children of Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one."
"Magi"
was a reference to the Zoroastrian religion that was prevalent in Iran
before Islam, and is sometimes used as an insult against Iranians.
Iran and Saudi Arabia often vie for regional dominance, backing rival sides in conflicts from Syria to Yemen.
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama made history on
Tuesday by nominating for the first time a Muslim to serve as a federal
judge.
Abid Riaz Qureshi, an American national of
Pakistani origin, has been nominated to the US District Court in the
District of Columbia, The Huffington Post reported.
“I am pleased to nominate Qureshi to serve on the United States District Court bench,” Obama said in a statement. “I am confident he will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”
Qureshi,
born in Pakistan, received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University
in 1977 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1997. He has been
partner at a Latham and Watkins, a law firm based in Washington DC since
2006, leading their pro bono efforts since 2012, reported
The National Law Journal.
President Obama’s nomination has been hailed as a milestone by Muslim advocacy groups.
“I
commend President Obama for taking this important step in continuing to
pick the best and brightest from every community to serve as part of
our nation’s judiciary,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of
Muslim Advocates, a legal advocacy organisation.
"A
judiciary that reflects the rich diversity of our nation helps ensure
the fair and just administration of the law, and it is vital for
American Muslims to be included. Mr. Qureshi’s profound commitment to
the rule of law and justice for people of all backgrounds makes him an
exceptional nominee.”
The nomination comes towards the
end of Obama’s final term in office and in the midst of a
racially-charged election campaign in the country.
The
success of Qureshi’s nomination remains uncertain, however. With just
months left in Obama’s term, Senate Republicans have virtually stopped
confirming his judicial picks.
But the nomination does
carry symbolic value for judicial diversity in a campaign in which
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has expressed insecurities
regarding fair treatment by a Muslim judge.
Trump said it is "absolutely possible" that he would receive unfair treatment if a Muslim came to serve as federal judge.
On a recent visit to the mountain resort of Nathia Gali in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), I clambered up the narrow and steep path to
the Lalazaar Wildlife Park to revisit the snow leopard being kept in
captivity there.
I was attending a workshop on climate
change organised by the Heinrich Boll Foundation based in Islamabad with
a group of journalists interested in environmental reporting.
The last time I was there in 2012, I wrote a blog piece "Snow Leopard in a Birdcage"
in which I had criticised the local wildlife department for not feeding
the snow leopard properly and for housing it in a small enclosure meant
for pheasants, causing injury to the animal.
I had hoped things would change for the better for the male snow leopard named Sohni or Sundar.
Promises
were made of shifting him to a larger, purpose-built enclosure and
there was plenty of talk of money being allocated for it by the
provincial government.
Four years on, the only thing that had improved for Sohni was that his birdcage had grown in size.
He looked bored but otherwise healthy as he sat atop his shed looking at us lazily in the cool, summer evening.
Sohni has been living in a birdcage for the past six years. Photo provided by the author
The sun was setting yet hundreds of tourists were still trekking up to Lalazaar.
But not everyone was happy about what they saw.
One
lady, who had brought her three children to see Sohni, was disappointed
after finding out that the snow leopard was kept in such cramped
conditions.
She didn't think it was worth trekking up and told me her children felt really bad for Sohni.
Sohni's
past is certainly more colourful than his present. Shahbaz Sharif’s
eldest son, Hamza Sharif, allegedly acquired the snow leopard cub from a
source in Central Asia illegally.
The Convention on the
International Trade against Endangered Species, to which Pakistan is a
signatory, bans the trade of endangered animals.
Sharif kept the cub in his house for six months in nearby Doonga Gali, where it was reportedly taken care of and fed well.
But
six years ago, WWF-Pakistan learnt about Sohni being kept in illegal
captivity and approached Sharif, convincing him to hand the animal over
to a local zoo to avoid bad publicity.
This is how Sohni ended up in the Lalazar Wildlife Park.
I
had hoped that the environmentally inclined Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI) government would do more for Sohni after coming to power in the
2013. But so far, there has not been any action taken to improve his
lot.
As one friend recently quipped, “perhaps you should
tell the PTI that it’s a political defection from the Noon League and
they might do something about it!”
Experts say that only around 3,500 to 7,000 wild snow leopards remain in the mountain regions of Central Asia, including the 200 or so in the mountain ranges of Pakistan. In addition, there are between 600 and 700 snow leopards in zoos around the world.
In
Pakistan, there are currently two snow leopards in captivity: Sohni and
a female snow leopard Lovely, also known as Lolly, in Gilgit-Baltistan
(GB).
Lovely was found in December 2012 by local villagers in the nearby Khunjerab National Park after being abandoned by her mother.
The
villagers say the injured six-month-old cub was deserted by her mother
when the cub failed to cross a river in Khunjerab with her.
Snow
leopard cubs cannot survive in the wild once taken from their mothers
because it is their mothers who teach them how to hunt.
The wildlife department of GB was alerted by the
villagers and the cub was moved to a rehabilitation centre in Sust, the
closest town near the Khunjerab National Park.
The centre
has a small wire mesh cage with a flimsy notice put up by the Park and
Wildlife Division Hunza-Nagar, urging visitors not to give the animal
“any food or other items without the prior permission of the wildlife
authority”.
Unfortunately, the snow leopard was treated
so poorly in the last few years that she currently suffers from
malnutrition and sits listlessly in her cage, barely switching her tail.
Dr Ali Nawaz of the Snow Leopard Foundation in Pakistan has been actively trying to do something positive for Lovely.
The
organisation has designed and raised funds to construct a purpose-built
enclosure for her up in the picturesque Naltar valley, which should be
open to public soon.
He told me that by the end of
August this year, they would be shifting the female snow leopard to the
enclosure, which they have designed in accordance with international
standards.
They will then hand the centre over to the GB government to run it.
While Lovely has a bright future, what about poor Sohni stuck in Lalazaar?
So
far, Dr Nawaz has not been asked to develop a new enclosure for Sohni
but he is ready to provide technical support should the government ask.
Every
winter when it snows in Nathia Gali, Sohni is sent down to Abbottabad.
Dr Nawaz told me that it must be stressful for the animal. He said it
would be better to shift the snow leopard to its natural habitat.
As
for any suggestion to house both Sohni and Lovely in the same enclosure
in order to encourage breeding, Dr Nawaz is against such a proposition.
They can barely take care of these two — imagine the headache if there
were more.
SHAAR-I-SHALLI: Go to the southern villages in Indian-held
Kashmir and they'll tell you stories about Burhan Wani, the Hizbul
Mujahideen militant commander who was shot by security forces in July as
he tried to escape through the back door of an isolated hideout.
They
say Wani would slip out of the forests sometimes just to visit, a
22-year-old with an AK-47 and an easy way of talking that made him so
different from earlier generations of Kashmir's insurgents.
The
villagers say he'd play cricket with village boys, and visit
orphanages. They say he'd pay for the weddings of poor young women.
In
the weeks since Wani was killed on July 8, the stories have grown into
mythology — a polite teenager who left home to become a Himalayan Robin
Hood, a powerful insurgent commander who remained a man of peace — that
it's no longer clear what is true.
But in death, Wani has
become something that India has long feared ─ a homegrown militant
openly lionised across the embattled region, a powerful symbol against
Indian rule who has united IHK's many factions.
Today,
rock-throwing high school students paint his name on shuttered
storefronts — "Burhan our hero" — while everyone from fearsome
insurgents to moderate politicians mourn him.
In this Aug 31, 2016, photo, graffiti eulogising militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in July is painted on the shutters of shops in downtown Srinagar, IHK. ─ AP
Wani had already rejuvenated the Hizbul Mujahideen, the
largest of IHK's militant groups, attracting dozens of new recruits with
postings on Facebook and other social media sites.
Young,
handsome and charismatic, he looked more like a college student than a
gunman. He sometimes posted photos of himself in the forests, a smile on
his face and an assault rifle in his hands. If he was more a savvy
recruiter than a menacing fighter, that only made him more popular.
But
his killing, and the public fury it set off, now threaten to give new
life to a militant movement in IHK that had withered in recent years,
reduced to just a couple hundred fighters in scattered rebel outfits.
Wani's
death sent tens of thousands of protesters into Kashmir's cities and
villages, beginning a cycle of protest-and-crackdown that has left more
than 70 civilians dead — most killed by Indian government forces — and
thousands injured. Strikes, curfews and intermittent communications
blackouts have effectively shuttered the region for more than seven
weeks.
It has also helped make the militancy, which had
once been at the extreme end of the Kashmiri independence movement, into
something mainstream.
Villagers, who had learned long
ago to hide any sympathy they felt for fighters, now speak of them
openly with reverence and warmth.
Wani has become the face of the militants' cause.
"He
was a good man, a gentle man," said Abdul Majeed, a farmer and elder in
the village of Shaar-i-Shalli. "That's why people cared about him."
Late
one night in mid-August, Indian soldiers forced their way into dozens
of homes in Shaar-i-Shalli, driving dozens of men into the town square.
Over the next five hours, they beat the men so brutally that one villager died and a general was forced to apologise.
The soldiers, military officials later said, were offended that village elders had not wanted to meet with them.
An Indian paramilitary soldier walks past graffiti — demanding freedom "Azadi" — on a wall in Srinagar. ─ AP
On a recent morning, Majeed and more than a dozen other
men from the village crowded into the home of the dead man — Shabir
Ahmed Mangoo had been a literature teacher at a nearby college, and his
wife had just had their first baby — to talk about what had happened.
A
scowling young man also named Shabir Ahmed (many men in the village
share the same name) suddenly interrupted Majeed. He had jet black hair
and a long beard, and could barely control his fury.
"People
used to be afraid to say that they support the militants. But with the
death of Burhan we have overcome that fear," he said.
Militants have been fighting since the late 1980s for independence for IHK.
At
its height, in the 1990s and early 2000s, a seemingly never-ending
series of bloody insurgent attacks and brutal crackdowns by Indian
security forces had given IHK the feel of an occupied state, a place of
informers, torture centres and soldiers on nearly every corner.
The
attacks of Sept 11, 2001, and subsequent United States pressure on
Pakistan to rein in militants based there, were a major setback for the
insurgent movement.
Indian security forces largely
crushed the militancy after that, though popular demands for "azadi" —
freedom — remained deeply ingrained in Kashmiri culture.
In
the last decade the calls for freedom have shifted to unarmed
uprisings, with tens of thousands of civilians repeatedly taking to the
streets to protest Indian rule, often leading to street battles between
rock-throwing residents and Indian troops.
Immense protests, some lasting for months, shook Kashmir in 2008 and 2010.
Today's
IHK is an often-contradictory place where bloody clashes mingle with
skyrocketing real estate prices and increasing wealth (fed, in part, by
Kashmiris working elsewhere in India or abroad).
It's a
place where you can buy high-end electronics or go shopping at
Babelicious Fashions, but where you rarely go more than a few minutes
without passing a heavily armed soldier or an armoured military vehicle.
Increasingly, many Kashmiris see the recent uprisings as unsuccessful.
Wani attracted dozens of new recruits with postings on Facebook and other social media sites. After his death, the medium allows his supporters to continue his story. ─ AP
"In 2008 there were nonviolent protests, and no change.
Then after the 2010 protests what happened? Nothing at all," said a
young protest leader who identified himself only as Mohammed, and who
hinted at ties to Hizbul Mujahideen, saying he could find a Hizbul
fighter "in a few minutes" if he wanted.
"This generation grew up with the idea of nonviolence, no guns. But we got nothing" from that, he continued.
"What can we do but take up the gun?"
While
Wani's killing sparked the current wave of unrest, it has also been fed
by widespread unemployment, especially among young people, and
political frustration.
Most Muslim Kashmiris have been
deeply distrustful of state politics since 2014, when a local political
party vaulted itself to power by forming an alliance with the
Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has long advocated
a hard-line response to any call for increased Kashmiri autonomy.
The
latest protests, and the open support for insurgents, deeply worry
India's security establishment, which can no longer say the militant
movement is a Pakistani creation.
The uprising has also
gone on far longer than security officials expected. While most hope it
will begin to fade after Eidul Azha, some worry it could last until the
winter cold hits the region in November or December.
A
high-ranking Indian security official, speaking on condition of
anonymity in order to talk openly, worries that the brutality of India's
clampdowns, and its ineptness with such basic concerns as traffic
enforcement and criminal investigations, have left Kashmiris with no
trust at all in the government.
Instead, the public ends up glorifying men like Wani, and the stone-throwing teenagers.
They
are young men with nicknames like "Bunker," for his courage in
attacking armoured cars, which are often called bunkers, or "Discovery,"
who acts as a scout for stone-throwers.
"This generation, it's like gunpowder ready to explode," the official said.
"When you make boys like this into heroes, then you have a big problem."
SEOUL: Better-than-expected demand for
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's new Galaxy Note 7 is causing supply
constraints globally, the South Korean tech giant said on Wednesday,
suggesting strong initial sales for the new premium smartphone.
While
robust demand could help deliver another solid quarter of earnings,
Samsung also risks missing out on potential sales if it cannot boost
supply quickly. Rivals such as Apple Inc are poised to launch new phones
which could pull customers away from Samsung if a shortage persists.
"As
pre-order results for the Galaxy Note 7 have far exceeded our
estimates, its release date in some markets has been adjusted," Samsung
told Reuters in a statement without commenting on where launch delays
could occur.
Production problems for the curved displays
for the Galaxy S6 edge phone resulted in disappointing sales last year,
and some investors fear a repeat if the world's top smartphone maker
does not move quickly to meet Note 7 demand.
Samsung
shares were down 2 per cent as of 0339 GMT Wednesday after hitting a
record high on Tuesday, while the broader market was down 0.3pc.
Samsung
said it was trying to boost production at the secret locations where
the Notes are made, and aimed to meet demand "as early as possible". It
gave no further details.
A person familiar with the
matter told Reuters there was no production issue for the curved screens
used on the Galaxy Note 7 and that the shortage would not be a
long-term problem.
"The party got more visitors than
Samsung expected, so they just need to put more food out," said Nomura
analyst C.W. Chung, who said the supply situation was not a major risk
given that Samsung made key parts such as displays and chips in-house.
Samsung
could sell as many as 15 million Galaxy Note 7 phones this year, Chung
said, compared with an estimated 9 million Galaxy Note 5 phones sold
last year.
The phone went on sale on Aug. 19 in countries including the United States and South Korea, where it retails for $882.
Samsung
hopes it helps maintain sales and earnings momentum in the second half.
Some analysts raised their profit forecasts for Samsung after the phone
received favourable reviews.
"There could be a
temporary issue but Samsung has almost never had prolonged production
misses," said IBK Asset Management fund manager Kim Hyun-su, adding that
the share price decline appeared to be profit-taking after a recent
rally.
Online media outlet BuzzFeed will split
itself into two new departments that will focus on news and
entertainment, CEO Jonah Peretti wrote in a memo sent to employees.
The
move to create two departments - BuzzFeed News and BuzzFeed
Entertainment Group - comes at a time when online media companies are
grappling with the balance between covering news and politics, and
lighter fare like social media, entertainment and lifestyle.
BuzzFeed
will integrate some existing groups like the health team and video news
into BuzzFeed News, which will be run by Ben Smith, editor in chief of
BuzzFeed.
"In this new structure, video won't be the job
of just one department. Having a single video department in 2016 makes
about as much sense as having a mobile department," Peretti said in the
memo, a copy of which was made available to Reuters.
BuzzFeed
Entertainment Group will now become the umbrella for all entertainment
news and will be headed by the president of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, Ze
Frank, who will assume the role of president of BuzzFeed Entertainment.
"Instead
of organizing around a format or technology, we will organize our work
to take full advantage of many formats and technologies," Peretti said.
The
company is best known for online list-based articles and quizzes and is
trying to better attract more young internet-focused audiences who have
different consumption patterns from their parents.
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday
approved an $810 million multi-tranche financing facility to develop
Pakistan’s power transmission system aimed at improving the reliability
and quality of energy supply, and to meet increasing demand for
electricity.
The loan facility will help fund the staged
rehabilitation and expansion of the transmission network, increasing
transmission capacity and energy efficiency and security.
Under
the arrangements, $800m will come from ADB’s ordinary capital resources
while $10m will be financed through the Asian Development Fund.
It
will also support government efforts to develop a more transparent and
efficient power sector by promoting reforms in the National Transmission
and Despatch Company Ltd, and the sector’s newly established commercial
operator, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Ltd. ADB’s
facility will be delivered in tranches, implemented from 2016 to 2026.
To
achieve this, the investment programme includes staged physical
investments in the transmission system to increase transmission
capacity, improve efficiency and energy security, and evacuate
additional sources of power; and non-physical investments to support
institutional efficiency, cost recovery, competition, transparency and
good governance within the sector.
“A reliable and
sustainable power sector is critical to the economic growth and
well-being of Pakistan,” said Megan Wolf, Energy Specialist with ADB’s
Central and West Asia Department. “Fast implementation of this facility
and related reforms to alleviate power shortages will improve the
prospects for the economy.”
Power shortages are a major
obstacle in Pakistan’s economic development. With demand for electricity
outpacing supply, inefficient and inadequate transmission and
distribution systems are key bottlenecks in the development of the
energy sector that is stifling growth and threatens social strife.
Chronic
power shortages are estimated to have reduced GDP growth by at least
2pc in 2012 and 2013, and are considered the major cause of the slowdown
in large-scale manufacturing, which grew at only 1.1pc in FY12 and
4.1pc in FY13.
WASHINGTON: The New York Times said on
Tuesday its Moscow bureau was targeted by a cyber attack this month but
that there was no evidence the hackers, believed to be Russian, were
successful.
"We are constantly monitoring our systems
with the latest available intelligence and tools," Times spokeswoman
Eileen Murphy told the newspaper.
"We have seen no
evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the
Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised."
Earlier
on Tuesday, CNN, citing unnamed US officials, reported that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other US security agencies were
investigating cyber breaches targeting reporters at the Times and other
US news organisations that were thought to have been carried out by
hackers working for Russian intelligence.
"Investigators
so far believe that Russian intelligence is likely behind the attacks
and that Russian hackers are targeting news organisations as part of a
broader series of hacks that also have focused on Democratic Party
organisations, the officials said," CNN reported.
The FBI
declined a Reuters' request for comment. Representatives for the US
Secret Service, which has a role in protecting the country from cyber
crime, did not reply to a request for comment.
A
government official briefed on the inquiry told the Times the FBI was
looking into the attempted cyber attack but was not carrying out similar
investigations at other news organisations.
The Times had not hired outside firms to investigate the attempted intrusion, contrary to the CNN report, Murphy said.
News
of the cyber attack comes amid a wave of similar attacks targeting
major US political parties that have surfaced in recent weeks ahead of
the Nov. 8 presidential election.
The Democratic National
Committee, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign
and the party's congressional fundraising committee have all been
affected.
Hackers have also targeted the computer systems
of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republican Party
organisations, sources have told Reuters.
A breach at the
Times would not be the first time foreign hackers infiltrated a news
organisation. Media are frequently targeted in order to glean insights
into US policies or to spy on journalists.
In 2013, a
group of hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army attacked the Times
and other media outlets. Chinese attackers also infiltrated the Times
that year.
A SUGGESTION to elevate Gen Raheel Sharif to rank of field
marshal is rumoured to be under consideration. Some media reports
maintain that a decision has already been made. There is, however, no
confirmation or denial from either the government or the military
spokesman, raising questions about the credibility of these stories.
There are some reports that the offer came as an alternative to a
request made by the general seeking an extension of his tenure that the
prime minister is reluctant to grant.
It all sounds so
surreal as only months ago the general had promised to bow out at the
end of his term in November this year. It would tarnish the image of a
good general were this report about his impending elevation true. He
certainly does not need the grand but ceremonial title of field marshal
in recognition of his great services for the nation. Indeed, Gen Sharif
must be given credit for leading from the front the fight against the
militants challenging the state. But one must not ignore the
contribution of other commanders too in this war that has been going on
for more than a decade.
It is most intriguing how the
rumour about a mere proposal was circulated and politicised. Is it a
game of deception? Firstly, it will not be easy to create this position
without a constitutional provision, however ceremonial the title may be.
Then there is also a problem of altering the command structure of the
armed forces if his role is to be made more effective.
There
is certainly no such move yet. So what is the rumour all about weeks
before the appointment of the new chief? It has generated unnecessary
controversy casting shadows over the transition of the army leadership
that should be following the normal process.
It is most intriguing how the rumour about a mere proposal was circulated and politicised.
Field marshal is usually the highest rank in the armed
forces and it requires extraordinary achievement by a general winning a
major war. But in Third World countries we have seen many examples of
military rulers appointing themselves to that position. Ayub Khan, the
first Pakistani military dictator, assumed the position of field marshal
in the 1960s without fighting a war — maybe in order to usurp power.
The main purpose was to stay as part of the military, the source of
power. But that title could not save him in crunch time.
Interestingly,
Egypt that remained under military rule for most of its recent history
had appointed eight field marshals over the past four decades despite
the country having been humiliated in conflict against Israel. Most
recently, the country’s new military strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
declared himself field marshal after ruthlessly crushing the resistance
to the military takeover.
Afghanistan has seen field
marshals in recent history. The last one was field marshal Mohammad
Qasim Fahim who served as vice president. He was given the title
apparently for leading the Northern Alliance’s forces against the Afghan
Taliban and capturing Kabul with the support of the US-led coalition
forces in November 2001. This appointment was more to do with politics
than his services in the military. There are several other instances of
tinpot dictators harbouring self-delusions of grandeur assuming this
title.
One wonders if Gen Sharif would be interested in
getting his name listed alongside them. This kind of artificial title
cannot further raise his professional reputation and stature. During his
three years’ term that is about to end soon, Gen Sharif led his forces
clearing most of the tribal areas including North Waziristan from the
insurgents. This helped re-establish the state’s writ.
Gen
Sharif has also been instrumental in pushing the government to act
against the militant groups operating on the mainland, though he may not
have been fully successful in his efforts. A thorough professional, he
may not harbour any political ambition but he did assert the military’s
authority when it came to taking decisions on critical foreign and
national security policies. That also reinforced the perception of the
military being in the driving seat.
Gen Sharif has tried
to change the narrative on terrorism and religious extremism and has
taken a much tougher stance on those two issues. That also won him the
kind of mass popularity no other army chief had received. But there has
also been criticism within and outside the military of over-projection
of his personality by an overactive ISPR that tweets his every movement.
His frequent foreign travels have also raised many eyebrows. One is
not questioning the importance of most of those visits, but some others
could have been avoided.
There is no denying Gen
Sharif’s role as a leader, but it is the military as an institution that
has made those successes possible. One must also not take away the
credit from his predecessors who led operations in Swat, South
Waziristan and other tribal areas. The North Waziristan operation could
not have succeeded without other tribal regions having been cleared
earlier.
Certainly, a lot more has to be done before the
situation in the tribal areas can be stabilised and militancy
eliminated from the country. But it does not depend on one person to
take this existential battle to its conclusion. With the entire top
brass battle-hardened there is little possibility of course reversal by
the future military leadership.
One must learn from the
past experience of generals getting extensions. The controversy over Gen
Ashfaq Kayani getting a second term refuses to die down. However
effective and brilliant one may be, no one is indispensable.
One
expects that being a highly professional and dedicated soldier Gen
Raheel Sharif will keep his promise and pass on the baton to the next
chief who one hopes will take his mission forward. Also, the government
must clear the ambiguity over the rumours about his appointment as field
marshal. Such controversies demoralise the troops. That is the last
thing the armed forces need when they are engaged in battle so critical
for the country’s security and its survival.
LONDON: The British police have announced that they are
assessing the contents of Altaf Hussain’s speech in which he asked his
workers if they were about to move on media houses in Karachi.
A
statement released by Scotland Yard said: “We have received numerous
calls from the public and are currently assessing the content of a
speech given by an individual associated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement
(MQM) to ascertain if any crimes have been committed under UK
legislation. Where evidence of criminal activity is found we will
consult with the Crown Prosecution Service.”
In the UK
system, it is the police who gather evidence of possible crimes and the
Crown Prosecution Service that decides whether or not to press charges
thereby initiating a trial. The MQM leader is already being investigated
for possible hate speech offences.
Scotland Yard said the existing enquiry would continue alongside a new one into Mr Hussain’s latest speech.
The
statement marked a sharp change of direction by Scotland Yard which, in
the immediate hours after the MQM leader’s speech, tried to play down
its significance, saying it would not lead to any renewed
investigations. At that point Scotland Yard responded to enquiries by
saying: “It was a matter for Karachi law enforcement.”
The
evolving police attitude suggests that, after many years of exhaustive
investigations into various aspects of the MQM’s UK activities, the
British authorities might now be willing to use the incitement issue to
register a charge against Altaf Hussain.
“Both the money
laundering investigation and the enquiry into the murder of Imran
Farooq are in the doldrums,” a source close to the UK investigation
said. “It might just suit everyone involved — both the Pakistanis and
the British — to go for an incitement charge.”
The
impression of an increased UK willingness to move against the MQM has
been bolstered by a tweet issued by the British High Commission in
Islamabad which said: “We stand with #Karachi at this difficult time.
Strongly condemn the attack on media.”
In the past
British Foreign Office officials have routinely and consistently refused
to make any comment on the MQM, saying that any allegations against the
party were a matter for the UK police to investigate.
It
is difficult to understand the timing of Altaf Hussain’s speech which
came just as his legal problems appeared to be going away. The money
laundering investigation into the MQM seems stuck.
In
April this year, the Metropolitan Police’s National Terrorist Financial
Investigation Unit submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS) containing evidence of suspected MQM money-laundering activities.
Officials at the CPS then considered whether the evidence was strong
enough to press charges. Sources close to the CPS suggested they were
considering dropping the case.
Meanwhile, the inquiry
into the 2010 murder of MQM deputy leader Imran Farooq also seems bogged
down. Long-running negotiations between the British and Pakistani
governments are reportedly making little progress and have failed to
overcome deep distrust between the two sides.
Pakistan
is holding three suspects in connection with the murder of Imran Farooq,
but the two governments are deadlocked over the question of how many of
them should be extradited to the UK. While the British want to try just
one of three suspects, Mohsin Ali Syed, Pakistan insists that it will
either extradite all three — or none at all.
The London office of the MQM did not respond to a request by Dawn for a statement for this article.
KARACHI: Elections for the seats of mayor
and deputy mayor, as well as chairman and vice chairman of the Karachi
Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), along with other municipalities of Sindh
went underway on Wednesday.
Polling will run from 9am
to 5pm. However, voters present in the polling station will be allowed
to cast their votes beyond 5pm.
The power struggle
convulsing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement notwithstanding, Waseem Akhtar,
the party’s candidate for mayorship of Karachi, is set to win the
election and rewrite history, officials and the contesting political
parties agree.
Akhtar, who has been in prison since
July 19 after an Anti-Terrorism Court dismissed his pre-arrest interim
application in the terrorists’ treatment case, was brought under tight
security to the KMC building to cast his vote.
Based on
MQM's numerical strength in the KMC Council — 214 members out of the
total 308 elected members — Akhtar’s victory in the mayoral election is a
foregone conclusion.
Other major contenders for the
Karachi polls include the PPP-led six-party alliance, particularly in
the South and West DCs. Other parties of the alliance are: Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Jamaat-i-Islami,
Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Fazl and Awami National Party (ANP).
The
MQM is likely to emerge victorious in the Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation (HMC) elections. The party has nominated Syed Tayyab Hussain
for mayor and Sohail Mashhadi for deputy mayor’s slot. PPP has
nominated Pasha Qazi and Hasan Ali Jatoi for the contest.
In
Mirpurkhas, PPP’s Mir Anwar Talpur and Mir Ahmed Khan Talpur have won
unopposed for the district council chairman and vice-chairman slots. The
MQM has majority in the municipal committee, which comprises 51 votes.
In
District South, the joint opposition parties have fielded Malik Fayyaz
of PPP for chairman and PTI’s Mansoor Shaikh for vice chairman against
the MQM’s Israd Ali and Parveen Begum.
In District West,
the MQM has fielded Izharuddin as chairman and Gul Faraz Khan as vice
chairman. The opposition alliance’s candidates are: PML-N’s Asif Khan
and PTI’s Azizullah Afridi.
“More than 2,000 voters will
elect mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and vice chairman for more than
100 municipal bodies of the 20 districts, including five of Karachi,
across Sindh,” Tanvir Zaki, the provincial election commissioner earlier
told Dawn.
“The deputy commissioners have assured us
that they have arranged the required security in and outside the polling
stations,” said Zaki, adding that police and Rangers had been entrusted
with the task of maintaining peace during the proceedings.
Zaki
said the election of mayor and deputy mayor for the Karachi
Metropolitan Corporation and chairman and vice chairman of the DMCs
would be held separately – the head and the deputy of these municipal
bodies.
However, on Karachi’s District Council (KDC) and
the rest of Sindh, they would be held in pairs – a single vote will go
to the head and the deputy.
There are two ‘pairs’
belonging to the PPP and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf as they are
contesting against each other for the top slot in KDC.
There
are nine districts where candidates have already won the elections
unopposed ─ Sukkur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Jamshoro, Tando Muhammad Khan,
Matiari, Sujawal, Thatta and Karachi Central.
Of the remaining 20 districts, ‘partial elections’ are being held on the municipal bodies of Khairpur and Thatta.
Officials
in the ECP said elections in several municipalities of these districts
were not being held because of court proceedings.
Tanvir
Zaki, the election commissioner, said there were a total of 41
locations where polling stations had been established in the 20
districts.
WASHINGTON: The United States categorically assured Pakistan on Tuesday that it did not support independence for Balochistan.
In
an earlier statement, the US State Department shared with Dawn its
general commitment to Pakistan’s territorial integrity and distanced
itself from India’s effort to stir an international controversy over
Balochistan.
But on Tuesday, the State Department shared
another statement with Dawn, removing all ambiguities about its stance
on an issue that many Pakistanis fear can be exploited to endanger the
very existence of their country.
“The US government
respects the unity and territorial integrity of Pakistan, and we do not
support independence for Balochistan,” said a State Department official
in the statement shared with Dawn.
But
the official also expressed US concerns about the human rights
situation in the province where Pakistan is fighting a simmering
insurgency by both separatists and religious extremists.
International monitors claim that both insurgents and security forces commit human rights violations in Balochistan.
Official also expresses concern over human rights situation in province
“We do have concerns about the human rights situation there,
and have reported that for several years in our Human Rights Report,”
the State Department official said.
“However, we have
consistently urged all parties in Pakistan to work out their differences
peaceably and through a valid political process,” the official added.
Hundreds
of people have been killed in Balochistan in attacks on sectarian and
ethnic minorities while scores of people have disappeared. Sometimes,
tortured bodies of those who disappear are found abandoned in remote
areas.
Baloch nationalists blame the security forces for
those disappearances, a charge the government rejects as incorrect and
accuses the militants of kidnapping people and of killing them when they
fail to get ransom.
In a speech last week, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi too talked about the situation in Balochistan and
urged Indian diplomats and the media to highlight this issue.
Pakistan reacted angrily to the speech, calling it a breach of international norms and intrusion in the country’s sovereignty.
While
commenting on Mr Modi’s statement, Pakistani officials and the media
said that the Indian prime minister was trying to hide the atrocities
committed by Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir by bracketing
the situation in the valley with Balochistan, which, unlike occupied
Kashmir, was not a disputed territory.
They pointed out
that Kashmir was an internationally recognised issue and there were UN
resolutions supporting the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri
people.
But the Indian effort to internationalise the
situation in Balochistan received support from the Bangladeshi
government and former Afghan president Hamid Karzai.
During
a visit to India earlier this week, Bangladeshi Information Minister
Hasanul Haque Inu said Bangladesh supported Mr Modi’s stand on
Balochistan and Dhaka would soon make a policy declaration on this
issue.
Mr Karzai, who was also in New Delhi this week,
said that Mr Modi’s remarks should make the Pakistani government “see
the gravity of the situation”.
Meanwhile, at a State
Department news briefing, a journalist drew the spokesman’s attention to
India’s decision to register a sedition case against Amnesty
International. Indian authorities claimed that Amnesty International
committed sedition when it held a seminar to highlight the fate of
broken families in occupied Kashmir.
“We’ve seen these
reports that local police in Bangalore have initiated preliminary
investigation into allegations of sedition against Amnesty
International,” said Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner.
“We
obviously, as we do around the world, support the right to freedom of
expression and assembly, including through civil society,” he added. “We
respect the right for Amnesty and others to express themselves freely.”
The official, however, urged the journalist to contact the Bangalore police for more details.
Responding
to another question, the official urged both India and Pakistan to
resume their dialogue for reducing tensions in South Asia.
“We
strongly support all efforts between India and Pakistan that can
contribute to a more stable and prosperous region, and that includes
meetings at any level between Indian and Pakistani officials,” Mr Toner
said.
“Our longstanding position has always been that
India and Pakistan stand to benefit from a normalisation of relations
and practical cooperation, and so we would be encouraged that India and
Pakistan continue to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing
tensions,” he said.
SYDNEY/PARIS: India is investigating the
extent to which secrets about French Scorpene submarines being built in
the country have been compromised, its defence ministry said on
Wednesday, after a leak of documents relating to its combat
capabilities.
The leak, which was first reported in The
Australian newspaper, contains more than 22,000 pages outlining the
secret capabilities of six submarines that French builder DCNS has
designed for the Indian Navy.
The newspaper The
Australian reported that the leaked data includes descriptions of what
frequencies the submarines use to gather intelligence, where a crew can
speak safely to avoid detection, and specifications of the torpedo
launch system.
"I understand there has been a case of hacking," Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters.
"We will find out what has happened."
The
submarines are being built at a state-run shipyard in Mumbai and the
first one was expected to go into service by the end of the year, the
first step in the Indian navy's effort to rebuild its dwindling fleet.
The
massive leak has also raised doubts about the security of DCNS's
submarine project in Australia where it won a US $38.06 billion contract
to build the next generation of the submarines. Australia's government,
which signed a big-budget deal in April with DCNS for 12 submarines of a
different class, said the leak shouldn't affect the Australian ships.
DCNS
beat out Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG and a Japanese-government backed bid
by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, in a blow
to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to develop defence export
capabilities as part of a more muscular security agenda.
The
leaked documents cover the Scorpene-class model and do not contain any
details of the vessel currently being designed for the Australian fleet.
DCNS said it could not immediately authenticate the
documents, but would not rule out that the leak was part of an "economic
war" waged by the competitors it beat in the contest for the Australian
contract.
"For now we don't know if the information is
correct," a DCNS spokeswoman said. "The competition is more and more
hard and all means can be used in this context."
"There
is India, Australia and other prospects, and other countries could raise
legitimate questions over DCNS. It's part of the tools in economic
war," she said.
Shipmaker DCNS said in a statement that
French national security authorities are investigating the size,
seriousness and cause of the leak.
Thales, which owns 35
per cent of the shipbuilder, could not immediately be reached for
comment outside normal European business hours. The French defence
ministry declined to make an immediate comment.
Thales was down more than 2pc in early trading, while the wider French blue-chip index was down 0.75pc.
Major strategic problem
The breadth of detail in the documents creates a major
strategic problem for India, Malaysia and Chile, all of which operate
the same submarine, an Australian political source with decades of
experience in the global arms industry told Reuters.
Excerpts
published in redacted form on the newspaper's website contained highly
sensitive details of the submarine including technical manuals and
models of the boat's antennae.
"If it's 22,400 pages, it's a major stuff-up," the source said. “It's a huge deal.
"It
allows them to understand everything about the submarines. What speeds
it can do; how noisy it is; what speeds the mast can be raised at ...
all of that is just devastating."
The Indian Defence
Ministry said it was investigating the impact of the leak on the
submarine programme which it said had occurred from abroad. It gave no
details.
"The available information is being examined at
Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) and an analysis is
being carried out by the concerned specialists," it said in a statement.
"It appears that the source of leak is from overseas
and not in India." Uday Bhaskar, a former naval officer, said that if
the leak was established, it would amount to a significant compromise of
the credibility of the submarines.
India has a fleet of
13 ageing submarines, only half of which are operational at any time,
opening up a major gap with China which is expanding its maritime
presence in the Indian Ocean.
Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull sought to deflect concern about the leak, touting the
high security standards in Australia, where the submarine will be built.
The Australian reported that the leak occurred in France in 2011.
"But
clearly, it is a reminder that, particularly in this digital world,
cyber security is of critical importance," he told the Seven TV network.
